Apparatuses, systems, and methods for the automated dispensing of articles

ABSTRACT

Provided herein is a system for automated dispensing of articles. Systems may include: a robotic arm; an end-of-arm tool attached to the robotic arm; a scanning device proximate the end-of-arm tool; and a controller to control the robotic arm and the end-of-arm tool. The end-of-arm tool may include a body and two or more vacuum cups extending from the body, where the controller controls a level of suction provided to each of the two or more vacuum cups individually. Each of the two or more vacuum cups extending from the body may be movable between a retracted position proximate the body, and an extended position away from the body of the end-of-arm tool in response to instruction from the controller. Suction may be provided only to the vacuum cups of the two or more vacuum cups that are disposed in the extended position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/719,671, filed on Sep. 29, 2017, the contents ofwhich are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to automateddispensing of articles, and in particular, to automated dispensing ofmedications in medication storage units. Embodiments may include full orpartial automation of the process and may include mechanisms forimproving the efficiency and accuracy of medication dispensing.

BACKGROUND

The dispensing of goods is a common practice that can often be timeconsuming and prone to error, particularly when performed manually. Theautomation of dispensing can improve both efficiency and accuracy of thedispensing operation; however, different types of articles necessarilyrequire different types of dispensing. Further, automated dispensing canbe costly, and if the dispensing operations are not frequent enough, orthere is a low-risk associated with errors, the cost of automation maynot be justified.

One particular field in which dispensing accuracy is critical is that ofmedication dispensing. Medication dispensing, such as in healthcarefacilities, can be a complex and time consuming process. With medicationorders changing, and with the significant potential ramifications ofdispensing the incorrect medication to a patient, the process ofdelivering medication from the central pharmacy to the patient can be ahigh-risk process in a healthcare setting.

Healthcare facilities generally dispense medications from a centralpharmacy to patients with a number of verification steps performed alongthe way to ensure that the medication is of the correct type and doseand that the appropriate patient receives the medication. Theverification steps may add complexity and time to the process, therebyreducing the efficiency. Therefore it may be desirable to implementapparatuses, systems, and methods which may automate some or all of theprocess and which may increase the efficiency with which medications aredelivered to a patient.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention may provide an apparatus tofacilitate the automated dispensing of articles. Embodiments of theapparatus may include: an end-of-arm tool having a body, two or morevacuum cups extending from the body, where the two or more vacuum cupsare movable toward and away from the body of the end-of-arm tool; avacuum source configured to provide suction to each of the two or morevacuum cups; and a controller, where the controller is configured tocause extension and retraction of each of the two or more vacuum cupsindependently, and the controller is configured to selectively determineto which vacuum cups suction is applied. The controller may cause theend-of-arm tool to attach to an article using at least one of the two ormore vacuum cups. The apparatus of example embodiments may include avalve controlled by the controller, where the valve is used to allow anddeny suction to be provided to each of the two or more vacuum cups.

Embodiments may include a vacuum gauge in communication with thecontroller, where the controller determines that a vacuum cup isattached to an article in response to the vacuum gauge registering arelatively high vacuum reading, and where the controller establishesthat a vacuum cup is not attached to an article in response to thevacuum gauge registering a relatively low vacuum reading. The controllermay generate an alert in response to determining that a vacuum cup isnot attached to an article when it is expected that the vacuum cup isattached to an article. The controller may determine which of the two ormore vacuum cups are to be extended based on a size and shape of anarticle to be retrieved. The controller may provide suction only to thevacuum cups of the two or more vacuum cups that are extended.

According to some embodiments, the controller may determine a level ofsuction in response to a determined size and weight of the article to beretrieved, and cause the vacuum source to provide the determined levelof suction. A size, shape, and weight of the article to be retrieved maybe determined based on an identification of the article to be retrieved.The apparatus may optionally include a scanning device configured toscan the article to be retrieved, where the controller determines theidentification of the article to be retrieved in response to thescanning device scanning the article to be retrieved. The scanning mayinclude two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) barcode scanning,optical character recognition (OCR), or the like. The identification ofthe article may include a National Drug Code (NDC) identifier or similarunique identifier that uniquely identifies the type of medication andunit dosage.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide a system for automateddispensing of articles. According to some embodiments, the system mayinclude: a robotic arm; an end-of-arm tool attached to the robotic arm;a scanning device proximate the end-of-arm tool; and a controller tocontrol the robotic arm and the end-of-arm tool. The end-of-arm tool mayinclude a body and two or more vacuum cups extending from the body,where the controller controls a level of suction provided to each of thetwo or more vacuum cups individually. Each of the two or more vacuumcups extending from the body may be movable between a retracted positionproximate the body, and an extended position away from the body of theend-of-arm tool in response to instruction from the controller. Suctionmay be provided only to the vacuum cups of the two or more vacuum cupsthat are disposed in the extended position or in the retracted position.Optionally, depending upon package configuration, suction may beprovided to a combination of extended and retracted vacuum cups, andpossibly not provided to another combination of extended and retractedvacuum cups.

According to some embodiments, the controller may determine which of thetwo or more vacuum cups to position in the extended position and whichof the two or more cups to position in the retracted position inresponse to determining a size and shape of the article to be retrieved.The controller may determine a level of suction to be provided to thevacuum cups of the two or more vacuum cups in the extended position inresponse to a determination of the weight of the article to beretrieved. The determination of a size, shape, and weight of the articleto be retrieved may be performed in response to the scanning devicescanning the article to be retrieved and the controller identifying thearticle to be retrieved based on the scanning.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide an apparatus including:two or more vacuum cups extending from a body, where each of the two ormore vacuum cups may be independently movable between a retractedposition relative to the body and an extended position relative to thebody; and a controller configured to control the movement of the two ormore vacuum cups between the retracted position and the extendedposition, and to control an amount of suction provided to each vacuumcup independently. The controller may determine which of the two or morevacuum cups to move to the extended position, and which of the two ormore vacuum cups to move to the retracted position in response todetermining a size and shape of an article to be retrieved. Thecontroller may be configured to determine a location on the article tobe retrieved for each of the extended vacuum cups to engage. Thecontroller may control the amount of suction provided to each of theextended vacuum cups in response to determining a weight of the articleto be retrieved.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide an automated dispensingsystem for dispensing articles. An example embodiment may include: acontroller configured to receive a request for an article to bedispensed; a first storage module and a second storage module, whereeach of the first storage module and the second storage module include aplurality of trays movable between a storage position and a retrievalposition, where each tray of the plurality of trays may include aplurality of storage locations; a robot configured to access theplurality of storage locations of a tray in response to the tray beingmoved to the retrieval position; and an end-of-arm tool attached to therobot and configured to retrieve the article from the storage locationof the tray in response to a request for said article received at saidcontroller. Systems may include a barcode scanner attached to theend-of-arm tool, where the barcode scanner is configured to scan anidentification of the article at the storage location prior to retrievalof said article. The end-of-arm tool may be configured to, with thescanner, scan a unique identifier associated with the storage locationof the article. The controller may determine if the unique identifierassociated with the storage location is associated with the requestedarticle.

According to some embodiments, each storage module may include a trayelevator, where the tray elevator is configured to move a tray from aretrieval position to an access position, where the access position iscloser to the robot than the retrieval position. According to someembodiments, systems may include a refrigerated storage module, wherethe refrigerated storage module include a plurality of trays, and whereeach tray of the plurality of trays includes a plurality of storagelocations. The refrigerated storage module may include at least one doorclosure, where the at least one door closure substantially encloses therefrigerated storage module. The at least one door closure may enableone tray of the plurality of trays to be moved from the storage positionto a retrieval position while substantially enclosing the remainingplurality of trays in the storage position.

Embodiment of the refrigerated storage module may include a trayelevator, where the tray elevator may be configured to move a tray froma retrieval position to an access position, where the access position iscloser to the robot than the retrieval position of the tray, and the atleast one door closure may be attached to and move with the trayelevator. Embodiments may include a memory, where the memory may beconfigured to store a unique identification for each of the plurality oflocations for each of the plurality of trays, and an identification ofan article stored in each of the plurality of storage locations.Embodiments may optionally include a track system, where the robot mayadvance along the track system between the first storage module and thesecond storage module.

Embodiments may provide a method of operating an automated dispensingsystem. Methods may include: providing for storage of a plurality oftrays in a vertical stack in a storage module, where each tray isindividually movable between a storage position and a retrievalposition, and where each tray may include a plurality of uniquelyidentified storage locations, and articles disposed in the uniquelyidentified storage locations; receiving a request for a first article ata controller; causing a tray including a unique storage location havingtherein the first article to be moved from the storage position to theretrieval position; commanding a robot to retrieve the article from theunique storage location; and dispensing the article to a dispensinglocation. Commanding the robot to retrieve the article may includecommanding the robot, using an end-of-arm tool, to attach to the firstarticle and to remove the first article from the unique storagelocation.

According to some embodiments, methods may include reading anidentification of the unique storage location prior to retrieving thefirst article using at least one of a barcode scanner or a radiofrequency identification reader attached to the end-of-arm tool. Methodsmay optionally include: reading an identification of an article usingthe at least one barcode scanner or radio frequency identificationreader attached to the end-of-arm tool; and dispensing the first articleto the dispensing location in response to the identification of thearticle corresponding to the request. Methods may include causing thetray including the unique storage location to be moved from theretrieval position to an access position by a tray elevator.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide an automated dispensingsystem including: a controller configured to receive a request for anarticle to be dispensed; a storage module, where the storage moduleincludes a plurality of trays movable between a storage position and aretrieval position, where each tray of the plurality of trays include aplurality of storage locations; a tray elevator configured to move atray from a retrieval position to an access position; a robot configuredto access the plurality of storage locations of a tray in response tothe tray being moved to the access position, where the access positionis closer to the robot than the retrieval position; and an end-of-armtool attached to the robot and configured to retrieve the article from astorage location of the tray in response to a request for said articleto be received at said controller.

According to some embodiments, the end-of-arm tool may include at leastone of a barcode scanner or a radio frequency identification reader, andwhere the at least one of a barcode scanner or a radio frequencyidentification reader is configured to read an identifier of saidarticle prior to retrieval of said article. The automated dispensingsystem of example embodiments may include an end-of-arm tool having: anend-of-arm tool body; two or more vacuum cups extending from the body,where the two or more vacuum cups are movable toward and away from thebody of the end-of-arm tool; and a vacuum source to provide suction toeach of the two or more vacuum cups. According to some embodiments, thecontroller may be configured to cause each of the two or more vacuumcups to extend and retract independently, and where the controller maybe configured to selectively determine to which vacuum cups suction isprovided.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference now will be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of overpacks as describedherein using multiple sized bins of a common profile;

FIG. 2 illustrates another example embodiment of overpacks includinglidded containers of multiple sizes, each having a common profile;

FIG. 3 illustrates another example embodiment of an overpack including aflexible film pouch with a grasping loop;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example embodiment of bags used as an overpack;

FIG. 5 illustrates a unit dose carrier defining a plurality of cavitiestherein;

FIG. 6 illustrates another view of the carrier of FIG. 5 including twounit dose blister packs received within the cavities;

FIG. 7 illustrates multiple sized boxes as overpacks;

FIG. 8 illustrates automated loading of overpacks according to anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example embodiment of a bag loading operation at abagging station;

FIG. 10 illustrates another example embodiment of an overpack includinga card-stock backing;

FIG. 11 illustrates the storage of overpacks according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example apparatus which may beimplemented as a controller according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 13 is an example embodiment of an automated dispensing systemaccording to an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 illustrates several example embodiments of tray configurationsaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is an example representation of a scanning station for theidentification of articles according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 16 is a vial roller according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of a modular automated dispensing systemaccording to an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is another plan view of a modular automated dispensing systemaccording to an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a plan view of a modular automated dispensing system havingtwo robots according to an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a storage module according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 21 is an illustration of a storage module having movable closuresaccording to an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 illustrates a plan view of a modular automated dispensing systemhaving a refrigerated storage module according to an example embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 23 illustrates a plan view of a modular automated dispensing systemhaving a secure storage module according to an example embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 24 illustrates a plan view of a modular automated dispensing systemhaving an automated singulator module according to an example embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 25 illustrates an example embodiment of a blister pack cardincluding a plurality of blister packs;

FIG. 26 illustrates a plan view of a modular automated dispensing systemhaving an automated packaging module according to an example embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 27 illustrates an end-of-arm tool according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 illustrates another view of an end-of-arm tool according to anexample embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29 illustrates an example end of arm tool configured with a grippertogether with a secure retrieval cabinet; and

FIG. 30 illustrates is a flowchart of a method of operating an automateddispensing system according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention may provide various apparatuses,systems, and methods for improving the efficiency of medicationdistribution within a healthcare facility. Some embodiments andcomponents of the present invention will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, variousembodiments of the invention may be embodied in many different forms andshould not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein;rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure willsatisfy applicable legal requirements.

Example embodiments of the present invention may provide a method,apparatus, and computer program product which may facilitate theautomated dispensing of articles, such as the dispensing of medicationswithin a healthcare facility. Embodiments may improve the efficiency andaccuracy of dispensing articles, incorporating mechanisms that may solveissues identified by the applicant as substantial hurdles in automatingthe dispensing of articles, particularly when those articles are ofdiffering sizes, shapes, and weights.

While embodiments of the present invention may be described primarilywith respect to the dispensing of medications and medical supplies inhealthcare facilities, such as hospitals and long-term care facilities,for example, embodiments of the inventions described herein may beimplemented in a variety of types of facilities, not limited to thoseexplicitly described herein. For example, embodiments may be implementedin distribution warehouse environments in which articles may bedispensed for fulfilling orders. While certain aspects of embodimentsdescribed herein may be specific to medication dispensing and theassociated accuracy required therewith, similar implementations may omitcertain features or include other features as would be apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art.

Healthcare facilities may include a central pharmacy in whichmedications are stored and dispensed to areas throughout the healthcarefacility. Some healthcare facilities may rely on a supplier,distribution center, or remote central pharmacy which stores medicationsand supplies at a remote location and delivers the medications andsupplies on an as needed basis. In such an embodiment, the medicationsfrom the supplier, distribution center, or remote central pharmacy maybe received by a healthcare facility at a receiving area. Whileembodiments of the present invention may be described as dispensingmedication from a central pharmacy, embodiments in which centralpharmacies are located remotely or embodiments using distributioncenters may implement embodiments of the inventions from the area inwhich medications and supplies are received from the central pharmacy ordistribution center. The indication of medications needed may beprovided to the central pharmacy or distribution center with sufficientlead time such that the healthcare facility may receive the medicationsin advance of when they are needed.

Articles to be Dispensed

While automated dispensing systems of example embodiments describedherein may be used to dispense various types of articles, the primaryembodiment described herein is particularly well suited for dispensingmedications. The modularity and storage module types may be configuredto accommodate the needs of any form of medicinal storage or medicalsupply storage. However, it is appreciated that other articles maysimilarly benefit from the various, configurable storage modulesdescribed herein for automated dispensing systems.

As noted above, an automated dispensing system according to exampleembodiments may be implemented in, for example, a central pharmacy of ahealthcare facility. Medications dispensed from a central pharmacy maybe of a variety of form factors from individual pills or capsules tointravenous bags of a liter or more capacity. Other form factors mayinclude syringes, carpujects, vials, multi-dose medication containers,etc. Supplies, such as intravenous medication tubing, empty syringes,etc. may be dispensed from a separate medical supply distribution centerwithin a healthcare facility, or in some cases, the central pharmacy andmedical supply distribution operations may be combined. Both thesupplies and the medications may come in a variety of sizes and shapesand may not easily and efficiently dispensed from a conventionalautomated dispensing apparatus. While a unit dose medication containedin a blister package may be easily handled due to the small size and asubstantially planar surface available for vacuum cup retrieval asdescribed further below, intravenous bags may be relatively cumbersomewith non-rigid packaging and a relatively high weight. Further, thehandling of products may require different levels of care. For example,a carpuject, ampoule, or a vial may be relatively fragile while a unitdose of a medication, such as a tablet, may be relatively durable. Whilethe tablet may be stored and dispensed in a very small package withoutsubstantial protection from transport, the vials, carpujects, andampoule may require larger, more durable packaging. Similarly,intravenous medication bags may be durable for transport, but may beeasily punctured such that care must be taken in storing, handling, anddistributing such products.

While certain medications are configured to be dispensed in vials wherea syringe is a required supply to accompany the vial, other medicationsmay require a patient to consume food or a beverage other than water. Insuch cases, the food or beverage to accompany the medication may betreated as a supply, and such supplies may also be dispensed as othersupplies may be dispensed as described herein.

According to some embodiments described herein, some products may bere-packaged into overpacks or packaging that encases or holds themedication or supplies in a package form factor that is one or more ofmore uniform, more easily grasped, more easily stored, etc. Overpacksmay provide a common packaging size, profile, shape, grasping feature,content protection, etc.

Provided herein are various embodiments of uniform or quasi-uniformoverpacks or secondary packaging for use with a variety of medicationsand supplies with varying shapes, sizes, and handling requirements(e.g., fragile, temperature sensitive, etc.). The overpacks describedherein may provide an aspect of uniformity to generally non-uniform formfactors. The uniformity may be in the profile of the overpack, such aswhen the overpack includes a plurality of various sized bins withuniform profiles, or the uniformity may be in a locating/holding hole ofa plurality of various sized bags configured to hold the various formfactors.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of an overpack according toexample embodiment of the present invention using bins of varying sizeswith a common profile. Each of the illustrated bins 102, 104, 106, and108 are of a different size while maintaining a common profile. Thesmallest bin 102 may be configured to hold small items such as unitdoses of oral medication 110 (e.g., pills, capsules, tablets, etc.)while the largest bin 108 may be configured to hold large items such asa one liter intravenous bag 112 and/or intravenous tubing 114, each ofwhich may be too large to fit into any of the smaller bins 102, 104, or106. The bins between the largest and the smallest (bins 104, 106) maybe appropriately sized to hold medications and/or supplies such asvials, syringes, 100 mL intravenous bags, or the like. The uniformprofiles of the bins may allow the bins to be processed along a conveyorline configured to accommodate such a profile. Further, the uniformprofile bins may be stored on common shelves with only the width of theshelf occupied varying between bins of different sizes. While someembodiments of bins of varying size may include a variable length, otherembodiments may include a common length and a variable depth. Forexample, each bin may occupy the same width of a shelf, but the bin mayextend further back on the shelf to create added capacity.

In some example embodiments, the overpacks may be sealed or closed tokeep the contents of the overpack protected and/or secure. For example,the various sized bins of FIG. 1 may include lids which may be securedto the bins by a hook-and-loop fastener system, a snap-on lid, or a heator ultrasonically welded plastic film seal. The type of closure used forthe overpack may be dependent upon the use of the overpack. For example,an overpack for manual distribution (e.g., via a nurse cart) within ahealthcare facility may not require a closure, or may use a simplesnap-on closure. An overpack for automated distribution within ahealthcare facility, or an overpack for distribution through anover-the-road delivery service may require a more secure closure that isless likely to be inadvertently opened, such as a heat-sealed filmclosure.

The closure may also depend upon the type of contents contained withinthe overpack. For example, if the overpack contains environmentallysensitive contents that should not be exposed to humidity or moisturemay benefit from a heat-sealed film closure. Closures that areimpervious to air and moisture may also be used for overpacks used withoxygen sensitive contents where an inert gas fills the overpack.

A closure for an overpack may also be selected based upon whether thecontents are government regulated, as in the case of controlledsubstances, or if the contents are a high-value candidate for theft. Insuch embodiments, a lockable closure may be used to seal the overpack.FIG. 2 illustrates an example embodiment of an overpack with a hingedclosure. As illustrated, the overpacks 120 of FIG. 2 may include acommon profile, but have varying widths to accommodate medications andsupplies of various sizes. The overpack base 122 and hinged lid 124 mayopen in a clamshell fashion to allow access to the interior cavitycontaining the medication or supply. As shown, the overpack may includea divider 126 which may allow two articles to be carried within oneoverpack without the two interfering with one another. The separationafforded by the divider may help to reduce confusion or mistakes whenmultiple medications are contained in an overpack for a particularpatient. Also illustrated in the overpacks of FIG. 2 are a closuremechanism including a tab 130 received within latch 128. The closuremechanism may be a locking mechanism requiring a key, code, or biometricidentifier. For example, authorized medical personnel may have access toa key, such as a magnetic key kept on their person or at a nursestation, which may unlock the latch 128. Optionally, the latch may be apush-button release configured only to maintain the lid 124 in a closedposition during transport.

While closures and locks may be used to secure controlled substances,security of controlled substances may additionally rely upon security byobscurity, in which narcotics and other controlled substances are notdistinguished from non-controlled substances, such that locatingcontrolled substances among the plurality of medication overpacks may bedifficult. Further, as described below, the storage location maycomprise the security measures necessary to secure narcotics orhigh-value articles such that overpacks, if used, may not require anyadditional security measures.

FIG. 3 illustrates another example embodiment of an overpack. Theillustrated embodiment of FIG. 3 is a reusable folding pouch styleoverpack which may be available in various sizes to accommodate multiplesizes of medications and supplies. The pouch 132 may be made of apliable material 134 which may be elastic to better hold the contentswithout shifting. The material may also be substantially transparent toallow easy verification of the contents of the pouch. The material 134may have an adhesive strip 136 around the perimeter such that when thesheet of material 134 is folded, a pouch 132 is formed. The adhesivestrip 136 may be a hook-and-loop type fastener or a releasable adhesivematerial to allow the pouch to be easily opened and reclosed for re-use.Optionally, the pouch style overpack may be designed for a single-useand may include a non-releasable adhesive requiring the pouch 132 to betorn open. Such a single-use type pouch may be beneficial forembodiments requiring evidence of tampering. The pouch 132 may alsoinclude a loop 138 or hook which may be used to hang or grasp the pouchin transport and dispensing. As outlined above, some overpacks mayinclude a common sized and/or shaped grasping feature, such as the loop138 to aid automation or efficient handling as opposed to, or incombination with, a common size or profile.

Overpacks according to the present invention may be embodied in otherforms, such as envelopes or bags. FIG. 4 illustrates an exampleembodiment of an overpack in the form of a bag 140 including a hole 142.The bag type of overpack may be of any necessary size to accommodate themedication or supplies carried therein, and the hole 142 may be used forholding, storing, and grasping the bag 140. The bag or envelope styleoverpack may be conducive to use in instances where the medication orsupply is received from a supplier as the cost of the overpack andmaterial used therein is relatively minimal. Further, pharmacyautomation tools, such as an automated dispensing system, may beconfigured to package and dispense medications and supplies in suchoverpacks, such that manual packaging of the medications or suppliesinto overpacks may not be required, thereby increasing efficiency andreducing cost. Some medications may be available from a supplier in bulkquantities in such overpacks, such as the illustrated box 144 of unitdose blisters 146 supplied in bag style overpacks 140.

Unit dose blisters may be cumbersome or somewhat challenging forautomated handling due to their irregular sizes and shapes. However,example embodiments described herein may provide a mechanism for ease ofstorage, retrieval, and identification of blister packs. FIG. 5illustrates a unit dose carrier 150 defining a plurality of cavities 151therein. Each cavity may be configured to receive a unit dose ofmedication of a unit dose blister. The cavities 151 may include recesses152 sized to receive the medication blister extending from the backingof a medication unit dose blister pack (i.e., the protrusion containingthe actual medication unit dose). This enables a medication unit doseblister pack to be received within the cavity with the blister packbacking facing up as the blister pack backing generally containsinformation identifying the medication on the side opposite the blister,which is received within recess 152.

The size, shape, and depth of the cavities 151 and recesses 152 may beconfigured to accommodate a large sampling of unit dose blisters ofvarious shapes and sizes. According to the carrier 150 of FIG. 5, thecarrier is configured to hold two unit dose blisters, with one in eachcavity 151. As shown, a unit dose blister is able to be received withineach cavity 151 with the medication blister facing down and receivedinto recess 152. This orientation will position the unit dose blister tolie substantially flat in a plane defined by the carrier 150, leavingthe identification information and other printed medication information(e.g., the information displayed on the side of the blister backingopposite the blister) viewable from above the carrier. This enablesscanning of information regarding the medication unit doses containedwithin the carrier 150.

Beyond the uniform orientation of medication unit doses to be readilyidentified in the carrier 150, the carrier configuration allows areliable mechanism for a picking system to vacuum pick (e.g., using ablister removal mechanism) the unit dose blister during a retrieval anddelivery process. The carrier of FIG. 5 further includes a tab 153 thatmay enable an automated picking system to retrieve the carrier 150 andto transport carrier using the tab 153 as a location to grab. Further,the illustrated carrier 150 includes retainers 154 which may beconfigured to retain the carrier 150 inside a housing, such as a housingcarrying a plurality of carriers. This may preclude inadvertent movementof the carrier from the housing which may be caused, for example bysystem vibrations.

FIG. 6 illustrates another view of the carrier 150 including two unitdose blister packs received within the cavities 151. As shown, theblisters of the blister packs are facing down, with the blistersreceived within recesses 152. The identifying information regarding themedications of the unit dose blister packs is visible on the planarsurfaces facing up, such as the name of the medication 155 and a machinereadable barcode 156. Further, the substantially planar backing to theblister packs provides a smooth surface that can be engaged by a vacuumpicking device using a suction cup type retrieval tool. This enableseach medication unit dose blister to be individually picked from thecarrier 150 without disturbing the remaining medication unit doseblisters.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example embodiment of overpacks according toembodiments of the present invention. The illustrated embodimentincludes various sizes of boxes, ranging from a small box 147 to a largebox 148. The small size and the large size may be dictated by the sizesof medications and supplies to be handled within a healthcare facility.In the illustrated embodiment, the boxes 147, 148 include hinged doorson a front side of the box. The doors may be hinged proximate the bottomof the front, opening outward. The boxes may include a common depth suchthat the boxes may be arranged in a stacked configuration 149 while eachof the doors to each of the boxes remain accessible.

While some overpacks described above may be used for storage of amedication or supply in an automated dispensing system, such as in acentral pharmacy, other overpacks may be used for receiving medicationsor supplies once dispensed from the automated dispensing device. Forexample, overpacks according to embodiments of the present invention mayalso facilitate automation of medication order fulfillment. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 8, empty bins 160 of various sizes but of acommon profile may be configured to be transported along a conveyor 162and be filled by a robot 164 or other form of automation. The robot 164may place a medication or supply 166 into the bin 160 for dispensing toa patient. Embodiments of the present invention may also be used withexisting automated pharmacy dispensing systems which may distributemedications from an inventory to an overpack for transport to a locationproximate a patient. Thus, medication overpacks may be implemented forstorage within an automated dispensing device as described furtherbelow, and/or implemented for receiving the dispensed medication.According to some embodiments, an overpack used within an automateddispensing device, such as the overpack 140 of FIG. 4, may be dispensedby the automated dispensing apparatus to another overpack, such as thebins of FIG. 1 as illustrated in FIG. 8.

Overpacks may be configured to contain only a single medication (i.e., aunit dose), a medication and a related supply (e.g., a vial ofmedication and a syringe), or the overpacks may be configured to containmultiple medications destined for the same patient. For example, if apatient requires five medications in the morning, three in the middle ofthe day, and four medications in the evening, an overpack may be filledwith the five morning medications, a second overpack may be filled withthe three middle-of-the-day medications, and another overpack may befilled with the four evening medications. In such an embodiment,individual tracking and control over unit dose medications may be lost;however efficiencies may be gained by using only a single overpack foreach time of day that medication is required for the patient.

As described further below, systems of example embodiments may include abagging station where one or more medications are placed into a bag andthe bag becomes the overpack. In such an embodiment, medications mayinitially be retrieved and dispensed to a bin, where the bin is taken toa bagging or bag-loading device. The bags at the bagging station may bein a web of bags (e.g., on a roll or spool of bags) where the bags areeither predefined lengths separated by perforations and sealed at oneend, or the web of bags may be a continuous web of a tube of material,where the bagging station may seal the bags at one or both ends, andseparate bags from one another as needed.

According to some embodiments, at a bagging station, a bag is printedto, with information such as the contents to be placed into the bag, adestination for the bag, a patient to whom the contents of the bag areprescribed, or the like. The bag may be printed with a unique, machinereadable identifier for ease of machine recognition. The bag may beindexed to a position, scanned to ensure the indicia printed to the bagis appropriate, and then opened to receive medications.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example embodiment of a bag loading operation at abagging station. As shown at A, loading bin 158 containing one or moremedications is inserted into an open bag 157 at the bagging station. Theloading bin 158 may be advanced, for example, by the robot 204 using anend-of-arm tool at 159. The loading bin includes a floor 161 and an endpanel 167. As shown at FIG. 9B, once the loading bin 158 is insertedinto the bag 157, the floor 161 is retracted, which may be enabled by avariety of mechanisms, such as a gear drive 168. Sliding the floor 161from under the bottom of bin 158 leaves the contents of the bin insidethe bag 157. As shown at C, the end panel 167 is raised, therebyallowing the bin 158 to be withdrawn from the bag along arrow 169. Themedications 163 are thus deposited within the bag 157 with minimal riskof damaging any of the medications.

The bags of example embodiments may have resealable features which maybe sealed and resealed upon removal of one or more articles. For certainmedications or facilities, a tamper-evident seal may be more desirable.As noted above, the bags may be formed from a continuous web and may befilled without being separated, such that a bandolier of bags may beformed, which may be useful in embodiments in which multiple bags aredestined for the same location or prescribed to the same patient.Optionally, medications may be dispensed for restocking medicationcabinets, such that a bandolier of bags may be useful for restockingdifferent medications within the same cabinet. Bags may be equipped withholes to minimize trapped air within the bag, and may includequick-access perforations to allow the bag to be easily opened. Theprinted portion or a portion thereof of the bag may be attached viaperforation for easy removal. Patient information or informationprotected under the Health Information Protection Act (HIPAA) may beremovable from the bag to comply with such protections. Bags mayoptionally be opaque or translucent rather than transparent to protectpatient privacy or to mask the type of medication, such as narcotics,which may be a desirable target for theft.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, overpacks mayalso include identifying indicia disposed thereon for identifying thecontents of the overpacks. In one embodiment, the overpacks may includean overpack identification number which is correlated with a medicationor supply that is placed into the overpack. The correlation between theoverpack identification number and the contents may be performed by anautomated system that loads the overpacks. Such a correlation wouldallow an overpack to be scanned to determine the overpack identificationnumber, and then referenced in a database to determine the contents ofthe overpack without requiring a person to review the contents of theoverpack. The database may be maintained by a server in the healthcarefacility configured to track and monitor medication dispensing withinthe healthcare facility.

According to another embodiment, the overpack may include a label thatis written to for denoting the contents of the overpack. FIG. 10illustrates an example embodiment of a patient identification label 172that is printed and paced into an overpack 170. The illustrated overpackmay be a blister pack, bag, or envelope configured to receive amedication unit dose. The overpack 170 may further be configured with ahole 174 for uniform storage and retrieval. While illustrated as apatient identification label 172, the label attached to an overpack mayidentify the contents of the overpack without regard for a specificpatient. In the illustrated embodiment, the patient identification labelmay include a barcode or other indicia identifying the patient and thepatient identification label 172 may be inserted into a pocket orotherwise affixed to the overpack 170. The identification may also beprinted directly onto the overpack material rather than onto a separatelabel.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example embodiment of the overpack 170 as carriedon a rod 176. The overpack 170 may be carried on the rod 176 forautomated distribution, transport, or storage. While the illustratedpatient identification label 172 includes a barcode and name,embodiments may include a patient or overpack contents label thatincludes a radio frequency identification (RFID) label configured to beread by an RFID reader exclusive of or in addition to other identifyingindicia, which may include barcodes, text, or other human or machinereadable information. In some embodiments, the label 172 may include animage of the medication that is supposed to be contained within theoverpack 170 to allow authorized medical personnel to visually confirmthe contents of the overpack are correct. While identifying indicia maybe printed to a label, embodiments of the present invention may includeoverpacks using electronic ink labels. Electronic ink labels may be“printed” by programming such that when a medication or supply is loadedinto an overpack the electronic ink label is programmed to displayidentifying indicia about the medication or supply contained within theoverpack. Electronic ink labels may function in the same manner asconventionally printed labels (e.g. by thermal printing, ink jetprinting, laser printing, etc.) such that they may be read by a user orby a reading device.

Additionally or alternatively, medications, such as blister packs mayinclude identifying information printed to the blister pack. Overpacksmay be configured such that the identifying indicia of the medicationpackaging is readable through the overpack. For example, a blister packwith identifying information thereon may be placed into a bag throughwhich the blister pack may remain readable. However, a blister packagemay not require an overpack when stored in an automated dispensingapparatus as the blister package may be sufficient for storage andhandling by an end-of-arm-tool, as will be described further below.

Automated Dispensing System

Automated dispensing systems, as described herein, require an inventoryof articles to be dispensed upon request. These dispensing systems mustbe periodically replenished in order to maintain the required inventoryto fulfill orders as they are received. The inventory of articles storedat an automated dispensing apparatus may be stored in overpacks, such asthose described above, or in the article's native packaging, such as ablister package for a unit dose of medication, an ampoule, a box, a bag,etc.

An automated dispensing system may require a controller configured tocontrol the functions of the automated dispensing. The controller may beconfigured in a variety of manners, an example of which is illustratedin FIG. 12. The controller of example embodiments may include processingcircuitry. The processing circuitry may be configured to perform actionsin accordance with one or more example embodiments disclosed herein. Inthis regard, the processing circuitry may be configured to performand/or control performance of one or more functionalities of thehandling, storing, or distributing of articles such as medicationsand/or supplies in accordance with various example embodiments. Theprocessing circuitry may be configured to perform data processing,application execution, and/or other processing and management servicesaccording to one or more example embodiments. In some embodiments,computing device or a portion(s) or component(s) thereof, such as theprocessing circuitry, may be embodied as or comprise a circuit chip. Thecircuit chip may constitute means for performing one or more operationsfor providing the functionalities described herein.

A schematic illustration of an apparatus which may be implemented as acontroller of an automated dispensing system is illustrated in FIG. 12.As shown, in some example embodiments, the processing circuitry mayinclude a processor 230 and, in some embodiments, may further includememory 232. The processing circuitry may be in communication with,include or otherwise control a user interface 234 and/or a communicationinterface 236. As such, the processing circuitry may be embodied as acircuit chip (e.g., an integrated circuit chip) configured (e.g., withhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software) toperform operations described herein.

The processor 230 may be embodied in a number of different ways. Forexample, the processor may be embodied as various processing means suchas one or more of a microprocessor or other processing element, acoprocessor, a controller, or various other computing or processingdevices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmablegate array), or the like. Although illustrated as a single processor, itwill be appreciated that the processor may comprise a plurality ofprocessors. The plurality of processors may be in operativecommunication with each other and may be collectively configured toperform one or more functionalities of a system for handling, storing,transporting, or distributing medication as described herein. Theplurality of processors may be embodied on a single computing device ordistributed across a plurality of computing devices. In some exampleembodiments, the processor may be configured to execute instructionsstored in the memory or otherwise accessible to the processor. As such,whether configured by hardware or by a combination of hardware andsoftware, the processor may represent an entity (e.g., physicallyembodied in circuitry—in the form of processing circuitry) capable ofperforming operations according to embodiments of the present inventionwhile configured accordingly. Thus, for example, when the processor isembodied as an ASIC, FPGA, or the like, the processor may bespecifically configured hardware for conducting the operations describedherein. Alternatively, as another example, when the processor isembodied as an executor of software instructions, the instructions mayspecifically configure the processor to perform one or more operationsdescribed herein.

In some example embodiments, the memory 232 may include one or morenon-transitory memory devices such as, for example, volatile and/ornon-volatile memory that may be either fixed or removable. In thisregard, the memory 232 may comprise a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium. It will be appreciated that while the memory 232 isillustrated as a single memory, the memory may comprise a plurality ofmemories. The plurality of memories may be embodied on a singlecomputing device or may be distributed across a plurality of computing.The memory may be configured to store information, data, applications,instructions and/or the like for enabling embodiments of the presentinvention to carry out various functions in accordance with one or moreexample embodiments. For example, the memory may be configured to bufferinput data for processing by the processor. Additionally oralternatively, the memory may be configured to store instructions forexecution by the processor. As yet another alternative, the memory mayinclude one or more databases that may store a variety of files,contents, or data sets. Among the contents of the memory, applicationsmay be stored for execution by the processor to carry out thefunctionality associated with each respective application.

A user interface 234 of example embodiments, such as the user interfaceof a user module of an automated dispensing system, may be incommunication with the processing circuitry to receive an indication ofa user input at the user interface and/or to provide an audible, visual,mechanical, or other output to the user. As such, the user interface mayinclude, for example, a user input interface 234 such as a keyboard, amouse, a joystick, a display, a touch screen display, a microphone, aspeaker, and/or other input/output mechanisms. As such, the userinterface may 234, in some example embodiments, provide means for usercontrol of embodiments of the present invention. In some exampleembodiments in which the invention is embodied as a server, cloudcomputing system, or the like, aspects of user interface may be limitedor the user interface may not be present. In some example embodiments,one or more aspects of the user interface may be implemented on a userterminal. Accordingly, regardless of implementation, the user interfacemay provide input and output means to facilitate handling, storing,transporting, or delivery of medication in accordance with one or moreexample embodiments.

The communication interface 236 may include one or more interfacemechanisms for enabling communication with other devices and/ornetworks. In some cases, the communication interface may be any meanssuch as a device or circuitry embodied in either hardware, or acombination of hardware and software that is configured to receiveand/or transmit data from/to a network and/or any other device or modulein communication with the processing circuitry. By way of example, thecommunication interface 236 may be configured to enable embodiments ofthe present invention to communicate with application server(s) and/ornetworks and/or information databases. Accordingly, the communicationinterface may, for example, include supporting hardware and/or softwarefor enabling communications via cable, digital subscriber line (DSL),universal serial bus (USB), Ethernet, or other methods.

FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of an automated dispensing devicesystem 200 according to an example embodiment of the present inventionwhich may be controlled by a controller as described above with respectto FIG. 12. The illustrated embodiment includes a plurality of storagemodules 202 arranged proximate a robot 204, which may be, for example, asix-axis robotic arm for retrieval and dispensing of articles asdescribed further below. The robot 204 may be positioned on a tracksystem 206 to allow the robot to move along the track providing greateraccess to the storage modules and allowing for expandability andmodularity of the automated dispensing system. The robot 204 may includean end-of-arm tool 208 configured to attach to articles for retrieval,movement, and placement as necessary.

According to some embodiments, a work platform 210 may be provided tofacilitate distribution of articles and the manipulation of articles aswill be evident by the following disclosure. This work platform 210 mayadvantageously be coupled to the robot 204 and may traverse the tracksystem 206 with the robot 204. The robot and work platform 210 may movealong the track system in any conventional manner, such as with a piniongear attached to the robot 204 base, with a rack gear extending alongthe track system. Optionally, the robot 204 may be belt-driven along thetrack system 206. Regardless of the motive mechanism of the robot alongthe track system, the position of the robot along the track system maybe precisely monitored via embedded sensors or tags in the track system,displacement measurement of the robot 204, or any method of measuring aposition along the track system accurately. The measurement of positionalong the track system 206 may facilitate accurate and repeatablemovement of the robot 204 arm and positioning of the end-of-arm tool 208to enhance accuracy of retrieval and movement of articles throughout thesystem 200. Electrical power, hydraulic power (if needed), pneumaticcommunication (e.g., vacuum or pressure), and hard-wired communicationsmay be in communication with the robot 204 through an umbilical 205which may bundle all necessary wiring, plumbing, etc. and may enable therobot 204 to traverse the track 206 while remaining in electrical andfluid communication with stationary equipment, such as a controller,hydraulic pump, pneumatic pump, and electrical power source, forexample.

The storage modules 202 may be configured to store a plurality ofarticles, where each article is accessible to the end-of-arm tool 208 ofthe robot 204. While an arrangement of vertical shelves may besufficient to store a plurality of articles, in order to increase thestorage density, the available storage locations may extend horizontallyto provide a substantial increase in storage capacity. To achieve thisincreased storage capacity, the storage modules may include a pluralityof trays 212 which may be received within the storage modules 202 andmay be configured to be moved between a storage position where the tray202 is received within the storage module, and a retrieval position, inwhich the tray 212 is slid out from the storage module, accessible tothe robot 204 and end-of-arm tool 208.

The automated dispensing device system 200 of example embodiments mayfurther include a user module 214, which may be embodied by thecontroller of FIG. 12, or separate therefrom. While an automateddispensing device system 200 of example embodiments may be capable ofbeing fully controlled through a remote interface or remote orderrequest/fulfillment apparatus, such as a remote workstation, computer,controller, etc., the illustrated embodiment includes a user module 214integrated with the automated dispensing device system. The user module214 may include a user interface 216. The user interface 216 may includea means for providing information to a user, such as a display (e.g.,light emitting diode (LED) display, organic LED display, liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), plasma display, etc.), and a means for a user to enterinformation. The means for entering information may include a touchscreen display, a keyboard, pointing device (e.g., mouse), a scanningdevice (e.g., barcode scanner or radio frequency identification (RFID)scanner, etc.), or the like. The user module 214 may be used to requestthe dispensing of articles, to review a queue of articles to bedispensed, to review errors or correct issues, etc.

The automated dispensing device system 200 of example embodiments maydispense articles in an automated manner, and may do so to a deliverydevice. For example, the automated dispensing device system 200 maydispense articles from the trays 212 to, for example, a bin. Accordingto an example embodiment of an automated dispensing system of ahealthcare facility, the system may receive a request to dispense one ormore medications for a particular patient. In response, the robot 204may advance along the track system 206 to a position for accessing atray containing one or more of the requested medications. The tray 212may be advanced to the retrieval position, either through a mechanism ofthe storage module 202, or using the robot 204 to move the tray to theretrieval position. Once the tray is in the retrieval position, therobot end-of-arm tool 208 may be moved by the robot 204 to a positionabove the location in the tray where one of the requested medications isstored. The end-of-arm tool 208 may retrieve the medication storedtherein, and move the medication to a dispensing location. Thedispensing location may be, for example, a patient-specific bin, whichmay be positioned on the work platform 210, or may be positioned at adispensing area of a module of the system 200. Once the requestedmedications for the patient have each been retrieved and dispensed tothe patient-specific bin, the bin may be moved to a location fortransport to the patient. One such example of a transport device is acart, such as a nurse cart.

The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 13 includes a cart module 218 and acart 220. The cart 220 may be received within the cart module 218 from aposition outside of the automated dispensing system 200, such thatmovement of the cart into and out of the cart module may not disrupt theoperation of the robot 204 within the system. The cart may be accessiblewithin the cart module 218 to the robot 204. The robot may move thepatient-specific bin containing the requested medications to the cart220 of the cart module 218 such that the patient specific bin is readyfor transport to the patient with the cart 220. Optionally, the cart mayinclude a plurality of storage locations therein and the robot 204 maydispense the medications requested for a patient to a storage locationof the cart without requiring a separate patient-specific bin.

According to example embodiments described herein, the automateddispensing system 200 may dispense a plurality of articles, such asmedications, to a transport device, such as a cart 220, withoutrequiring manual intervention. This automated dispensing may be achievedthrough proper identification of articles as they are received in theautomated dispensing system 200 and as they are retrieved within thesystem for dispensing.

Each tray 212 within each storage module 202 may include a plurality oflocations, where each location has a unique identification. Thelocations may be uniquely identified based on an identifier, such as abarcode or RFID tag at the location, or uniquely identified bycoordinates (e.g., Cartesian coordinates) within the tray, for example.The trays may have various different configurations in order toaccommodate different types of articles stored therein. FIG. 14illustrates several potential configurations of trays according toexample embodiments described herein. A tray may be configured to hold aplurality of cups, such as medication cups as shown at 222. A tray maybe configured to hold a plurality of blisters, such as medication unitdose blister packages as shown at 224. A tray may be configured to holda plurality of bins which may be of uniform or different sizes as shownat 226. These bins may be clear to facilitate identification of thearticles contained therein as described further below. And trays may beconfigured to hold a plurality of cards, such as a card containing aplurality of individual unit dose blister packages as shown at 228.Trays may be configured in a variety of manners to hold any type ofarticle requiring automated dispensing. Further, trays may be configuredto hold various different form factors, including a combination of anyof the tray configurations of FIG. 14 implemented in a single tray. Thepockets of a tray may optionally be lined with a relatively higherfriction material, particularly over smooth plastic tray pockets. Thismay enable example embodiments to maintain the position of an articleloaded into a pocket, such as a medicine vial in a label-up position,and mitigate the effects of vibration and movement of the articleswithin the pocket to enable easier identification of the article in thepocket.

According to an example embodiment, each location of a tray may beuniquely identified such that a position of the location within the trayis known. The geometry of a tray and the locations therein may be storedwithin a memory, such as memory 232 of the controller illustrated inFIG. 12. Each tray may be unique such that the memory 232 includes aunique layout and geometry together with location identifiers for eachtray. In such an embodiment, each tray may include a unique identifier,such as a barcode, 2-dimensional barcode, an RFID tag, etc. Optionally,there may be a specific number of configurations of trays, and eachconfiguration may have a unique identification. In such an embodiment,the identification of a tray may only provide the configurationinformation, while the location of the tray within the storage modulemay be stored within the memory of the controller 232 to facilitateretrieval of articles from the tray.

The trays 212 of example embodiments may be maintained within orassociated with a particular storage module, such that the trays arereplenished for dispensing of articles therefrom. However, according tosome embodiments, the trays may be removable from the storage modulesand replenishment may occur through replacement of trays within astorage module. In such a case where trays are removable from a storagemodule, an identification of a tray 212 may be read by a device, such asa scanning device, upon receipt into a storage module such that thecontroller can associate a specific tray with a specific location withinthe automated storage device.

As articles are dispensed from automated dispensing systems as describedherein, replenishment of articles is required to maintain an inventoryof articles for dispensing. The replenishment is an operation that mayoccur in downtime between dispensing operations, which may occurovernight in a healthcare facility where fewer medications are beingdispensed, for example. Various methods for replenishment may be used toreplenish the automated dispensing systems described herein, andreplenishment in a fast and efficient manner may be important inimplementations in which there is little downtime over whichreplenishment may occur.

The automated dispensing system 200 of example embodiments may alsoprovide automated replenishment using the robot 204 and end-of-arm tool208 as described herein. Replenishment may occur through replacement ofentire trays 212, or portions thereof. For example, a replenishment cartmay be received within cart module 218, where the replenishment cartincludes a plurality of trays stored therein. These trays may include aplurality of storage locations as described above with respect to FIG.14. The trays may be removable from the cart, such that a tray may beretrieved by the robot 204. The trays of the replenishment cart may beof the same size as the trays 212 of the storage module 202, and may beinterchangeable with the trays of the storage module. In such anembodiment, replenishment may occur through the swapping of trays withinthe storage module with a replacement tray from the replenishment cart.However, according to some embodiments, the replenishment cart may notbe of sufficient size to hold trays of the same size as those in thestorage modules.

The trays of the storage modules may be relatively large, such thatreplenishment may occur on only a portion of the trays of the storagemodules. In such an embodiment, the trays 212 of the storage modules 202may include inserts, wherein the inserts include a plurality oflocations, and each tray may include several inserts. In such anembodiment, inserts of the trays may be swapped during replenishment.For example, a tray 212 of the storage module may be configured to holdthree inserts. An insert that is scheduled for replenishment (becausethe insert is empty, mostly empty, or contains articles that are now orwill soon expire, etc.) may be removed from a tray 212 of the storagemodule 202 by the robot 204 using the end-of-arm tool 208. Thereplenishment cart received at the cart module 218 may include an insertto replace the removed insert. The robot 204 may retrieve thereplenishing insert and place the replenishing insert into the tray 212.In such an embodiment, each insert may be individually identified, withlocations of the inserts known and the contents thereof stored in adatabase, such as in memory 232 of the controller. Such inserts maypromote the bulk replenishment of articles.

According to some embodiments, replenishment of articles may occur on aunit-by-unit basis. A replenishment cart may be received at the cartmodule 218, and may include a tray of articles for replenishment of thesystem 200. The tray may be removed from the replenishment cart, andplaced into a location within the automated dispensing system 200 foraccess by the robot 204 and the end-of-arm tool 208, such as on workplatform 210. The robot 204, using the end-of-arm tool 208 and advancingalong the track system 206, may retrieve articles from the replenishmenttray and place them into locations of the trays 212 of the storage unit.As this is done, a location and identification of the article may bestored by the controller, such as in memory 232.

According to some embodiments, the robot 204 may also be configured to,at the instruction of the controller, to move articles between differentstorage locations within one or more trays 212 of the storage modules202. This may be performed to consolidate articles, or to place articlesinto strategic positions based on other articles that are likely to beretrieved with those articles. For example, if a first medication oftencauses a side effect that is treated with a second medication, the firstand second medications may be placed proximate one another within a tray212 of a storage module 202 as it is likely that both medications willrequire retrieval at the same time. Automated storage systems of exampleembodiments may also have trays or zones for which retrieval of articlesis more efficient. For example, a tray that is at a height similar tothat as the middle of the robot 204 height may be more efficientlyaccessed than a tray that is at the top or bottom of the robot's travel.High-volume articles, or articles that are frequently used, may bepositioned in these more efficiently accessed areas to promote fasterthroughput of the automated dispensing system. The high volume articlesmay change seasonally (e.g. allergy medications) such that repositioningof medications may be performed by the robot 204 by instruction from thecontroller to optimize the organization of articles in the storagemodules. Periodically, the robot 204, at the instruction of thecontroller, may de-fragment or defrag the stored articles byconsolidating articles into a more condensed area of storage. Sparselydistributed articles may be brought together to promote efficientretrieval and dispensing of articles.

The robot 204 may include a scanner, such as a barcode scanner, RFID tagscanner/reader, etc., to read the identification of articles as they areretrieved and/or placed into storage locations. Further, this scannermay read the identification of trays 212, tray inserts, and/or locationswithin the trays or inserts. The scanner may be used to identifyarticles that are being dispensed or replenished in order to ensureaccuracy and that the article that is stored in a particular location ofthe storage module is consistent with the article that is anticipated.

According to some embodiments, the scanner may be an image capturedevice, to capture images of a barcode or identifier and use the image,through barcode analysis or optical character recognition, to deduce theidentity of the scanned image. In such an embodiment, the robot 204 mayuse the image capture device as a vision guidance system to facilitatelearning locations within trays for articles. The image capture devicemay enable the robot to determine a centroid of an article in order tobest grip the article to retrieve it. Further, the image capture devicemay enable the robot 204, through use of the controller, to determine anorientation of an article within a tray such that the end-of-arm toolcan be properly positioned to retrieve the article based on thedetermined orientation.

While the scanner or image capture device of example embodiments may beused to determine the identification of an article, some articles maynot have identifying indicia that is easily read, particularly those inwhich orientation of an article may obscure the identifying indicia. Onesuch example embodiment may include a medication vial, where a barcodeis disposed on one side of a substantially cylindrically shaped vial. Ifthe barcode is not positioned in a manner in which the barcode can beread while the vial is in a tray 212 of the storage module, 202,alternative methods of identification may be required.

Some embodiments described herein may include bins configured tofacilitate the identification of articles that may be unidentifiablebased on their orientation. Trays 212 may contain a plurality of bins,such as the bins of the tray illustrated in 226 of FIG. 14. The bins maybe transparent and removable from the tray such that a retrieved bin maybe provided to an identification station for determination of anidentification. FIG. 15 illustrates an example embodiment of a bin 242as removed from a tray 212. The bin may be moved to a station within theautomated dispensing system 200 by the robot 204 where several scanningdevices 240 are positioned. The scanning devices may be barcode readersor image capture devices, for example. In response to the robot 204inserting the bin 240 into the identification station, the scanningdevices 240 may scan the bin for the contents, through the transparentmaterial of the bin. A barcode or other indicia disposed on the vial 244may be scanned by at least one of the scanning devices 240 and theinformation provided to the controller for identification. The bin 242of the illustrated embodiment includes a curved profile along its lengthlacking corners of a conventional rectangular bin. The curved,transparent profile may promote easier scanning of the indicia on thevial 244 by providing a substantially undistorted view of the indiciaabout the vial, as would be present if scanning indicia through thecorner of a rectangular bin.

According to example embodiments of automated dispensing systems thatcommonly dispense articles of a cylindrical or substantially cylindricalshape, where the identifying indicia may not be visible to a scanner ofthe end-of-arm tool while the article is resting in a location within atray, a rolling mechanism may be employed to rotate the cylindricalarticle 244 while a scanning device 240 scans the article as depicted inFIG. 16. The article roller 250 of FIG. 16 includes a pair of rollers252 configured to rotate the article 244 about its major axis in orderfor the scanning device 240 to view the entire major surface of thearticle. This may enable the scanning device to read the identifyingindicia from the article. As different sizes of cylindrical articles maybe dispensed from automated dispensing systems, multiple article rollers250 may be used, with varying size rollers or gaps between the rollers252 in order to securely rotate articles of other sizes. Optionally, thearticle roller 250 may include rollers that have a variable width, suchthat the distance between the rollers can be adjusted by the controllerto accommodate a retrieved article. The article roller may be positionedconveniently to the robot 204 and the end-of-arm tool 208, such as onwork platform 210.

While an article roller 250 may be used to virtually unroll a label asthe cylindrical article is rotated on the rollers 252, exampleembodiments may optionally capture images from three different positionsaround a retrieved article in order to read any indicia from thearticle. A first image capture device or camera may be captured from theend-of-arm-tool as it is positioned to retrieve an article. This imagemay be an image of a top side of an article. The robot 204 may retrievethe article from a pocket, such as a pocket of a tray, and advance thearticle to a position in which two additional image capture devices maycapture images from two positions below the article. The image capturedevices may be positioned in such a way as to capture 360 degrees aroundthe article to ensure any indicia on the label may be captured. This mayinvolve three or more image capture devices, where the image capturedevices capture up to 120 degrees of a surface of an article. The imagesof the underside of the article may be captured at a specific pointduring the retrieval as the article passes through an image capturearea, or optionally the robot may advance the end-of-arm-tool holdingthe article to a station to specifically capture the images that may beused to identify the article in a manner similar to that described withrespect to FIG. 15.

Scalable Modular Architecture

The illustrated embodiment of FIG. 13 depicts three storage modules 202,a cart module 218, and a user module 214. The cart module may beincorporated with the user module according to some embodimentsdescribed herein. FIG. 17 illustrates a plan view of the configurationdepicted in FIG. 13 of the automated storage system 200. The illustratedsystem of FIG. 17 includes the three medication storage modules 202, theuser module 216 (including cart module 218), the track system 206, therobot 204, and the end-of-arm tool 208. FIG. 4 illustrates the storagemodules 202 with a drawer from each module extended in the retrievalposition to illustrate the spatial relationship between the modules, thetrack system 206, and the robot 204. As shown, the robot 204 and theend-of-arm tool 208 can access each storage compartment within each tray212.

While the illustrated embodiment may provide a high-density solution foran automated dispensing system, where many articles can be stored fordispensing in a relatively small area, some implementations may requireadditional capacity. As such, embodiments described herein may bemodular in nature and may be scalable to accommodate implementations ina wide variety of environments. FIG. 18 illustrates another exampleimplementation of embodiments of the present invention. As shown, fouradditional storage modules are included in the embodiment of FIG. 18,with an extended track system 206 such that the robot 204 can access theadditional storage modules. This implementation provides more thandouble the storage capacity of the embodiment of FIG. 17 while onlydoubling the size of the overall system. Further, embodiments describedherein have a high storage density compared to other storage andautomated dispensing options, such that the products stored fordispensing in the embodiments described herein represent a moreefficient use of space, which can be limited in many healthcareenvironments.

FIG. 19 illustrates another embodiment of the present inventionfeaturing the automated dispensing system illustrated in FIG. 18;however, a second robot 205 has been added. The second robot 205 can beadded to the same track system 206 on which the first robot 204 isoperating, and the second robot can provide an increase in throughput bydoubling the rate at which articles can be retrieved. The two robots canboth be controlled by the same controller or separate controllers thatare in communication with one another. The robots can communicateposition along the track system 206 and be instructed to retrievearticles in such a way as to maximize the duty cycle of both of therobots, thereby maximizing the utilization of the available resourcesand increasing throughput.

As will be appreciated, the modular nature of example embodiments allowsfor the expansion and scalability of automated dispensing systems in alimitless fashion. Further, additional cart modules may be implementedto increase the amount of options for dispensing and/or restocking. Forexample, one robot can be restocking trays from a first cart modulewhile another robot is dispensing articles to a second cart module.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example storage module according to an exampleembodiment provided herein. The example storage module may include acabinet 302 from which the trays 212 extend when moved to the retrievalposition illustrated. The cabinet may hold a large number of trays, andthe spacing between trays may be determined based on the types ofarticles to be held in the trays. For example, if a tray is to hold onlyunit does of medications in blister packs, the tray may require only arelatively small vertical height for clearance within the cabinet 302.However, if a tray is to hold 1,000 mL bags of intravenous solutions,the vertical clearance required between adjacent trays may besubstantially greater. While moving the trays 212 from a storageposition (shown as trays 304) to a retrieval position (shown as tray212) may enable a robot 204 to access the storage locations within thetray 212, greater storage capacity may be achieved if the trays aremoved to a position that is more easily and efficiently accessible to arobot 204 and end-of-arm tool 208. For example, a tray elevator 300 maybe employed to move trays in a vertical direction along the face of thecabinet 302 in response to the tray being moved to the retrievalposition of tray 212. In this manner, the tray elevator 300 may move atray from the top or bottom-most location to an access location which isa location that is more easily and more quickly reached by the robot204.

Such tray elevators 300 as described herein may further enable cabinets302 to be constructed to virtually any height, while being able to movethe trays to a position on the storage module that is accessible to therobot 204. These tray elevators may move along tracks on or within theface of the cabinet 302 and may be driven, for example, by cables orgears to precisely move the tray to and from the position in which thetray is stored in the cabinet 302.

Storage modules of example embodiments may require secure closures overthe trays in order to keep temperature or humidity levels withinrequired levels for the articles stored therein, or security of thestored articles may be a concern, such as in the case with narcoticmedications. Embodiments described herein may include doors that covertrays that are in a stored position, such as trays 304 of FIG. 20. FIG.21 illustrates a pair of door closures 306 and 308 that enclose traysthat are not currently accessed by the tray elevator 300. The doorclosures may be similar to closures found on a roll-top desk, where thedoor is flexible along one axis, and “rolls” back into the cabinet as itis raised or lowered. FIG. 21 illustrates a section view of the storagemodule illustrating the upper door closure 306 that is received by thecabinet 302 over upper rollers 310, while lower door closure 308 isreceived by the cabinet 302 over lower rollers 312. As the tray elevator300 moves up along the direction of arrow 314, more of upper closure 306rolls back into the cabinet 302 over rollers 310, while more of lowerclosure 308 is moved from within the cabinet and presented in the frontof the cabinet, below the tray elevator 300. Similarly, when the trayelevator moves down along arrow 316, lower closure 308 rolls back intothe cabinet 302 over rollers 312, while upper closure 306 rolls out fromwithin the cabinet and is presented at the front of the cabinet abovethe tray elevator 300. These upper and lower closures preclude traysthat are not presently being accessed by the tray elevator 300 frombeing accessed manually or otherwise.

Storage modules of example embodiments may be provided with accessoutside of the area in which the robot 204 or robots are moving. Duringoperation of the robots, the area between the storage modules where therobot operates may be closed to operators to prevent an operator frombeing injured by the robot or tray elevators. However, it may bedesirable to enable access to a tray while the automated dispensingsystem is actively dispensing articles. As such, access to trays fromoutside the automated dispensing system may be provided. The trays maybe available to slide out the opposite side from that shown in FIGS. 20and 21. This may enable an operator to manually check or verifyarticles, or to manually replenish any articles urgently needed. Storagemodules may include a tray elevator on the back of a storage module tomore conveniently present a tray to a user outside of the automateddispensing system. Further, the closures illustrated in FIG. 21 anddescribed above may be implemented on the back of a cabinet for securityand/or safety. Should closures be used on both the front and rear of acabinet, rather an implementation may use a closure similar to a roll-updoor, where the upper closure 306 of FIG. 21 would be received around asingle roller 310 as it the closure is retracted.

Access to the contents of the dispensing system may be desirable whenthe system is down for service or if technical issues arise. In such aninstance, the module of the system that is accessible from outside ofthe system may contain a typical supply of medications that may beneeded for a period of time, such as 24 hours. This may enable afacility to remain fully operational when the dispensing system is notfunctioning. Further, the system may configure itself for suchscenarios. If a patient in the facility has been prescribed a medicationthat is not commonly use, the dispensing system may move a supply ofthat medication type to the unit that is accessible from outside of thedispensing system to prepare for potential unexpected down time.

Storage Module Types

Example embodiments of storage modules described above may bespecifically configured for storage of a specific category of articles.For example, some medications in a healthcare environment are requiredto be kept below room temperature such that refrigerated storage may berequired. The modularity of the automated dispensing system may beconfigured to receive a refrigerated storage module 260, as depicted inFIG. 22. While an entire module is depicted in FIG. 22 as refrigerated,a storage module may be partially refrigerated in dependence upon therequired refrigerated storage capacity. The refrigerated storage modulemay function in substantially the same manner as the storage modules202. However, the refrigerated storage module may benefit from theimplementation of the upper closure 306 and lower closure 308 describedabove with respect to FIG. 21, even if the remaining storage modules donot use such closures. The upper closure 306 and lower closure 308 of arefrigerated storage module 260 may be insulated or provide insulatingproperties to the contents of the refrigerated storage module. In thismanner, the contents of a refrigerated storage module may be maintainedat an appropriate temperature more efficiently and more consistently,thereby prolonging the life of the articles stored therein.

Other article types may also require specific storage needs. Forexample, articles that are subject to inventory regulations, such asnarcotics, may require security protocols that are not otherwiserequired for non-narcotic medications. FIG. 23 illustrates an exampleembodiment of an automated dispensing system that includes both arefrigerated storage module 260 and a secure storage module 262. Thesecure storage module may include an upper closure 306 and a lowerclosure 308, as illustrated in FIG. 21, in order to preclude access totrays that are behind the closures. Optionally, each tray may beequipped with a locking mechanism to preclude removal of the tray fromthe secure storage module 262 without proper authorization. Manual entryto the secure storage module may thus be precluded when a technician orother personnel are within the automated dispensing system (e.g., duringsystem downtime) and authorization is not granted. This secure storagemechanism may be adapted to conform to local, regional, or nationalregulations relating to the types of articles stored therein. Access maybe granted to the secure storage module 262 via user module 216 orduring routine article dispensing using the robot 204.

FIG. 24 illustrates an automated dispensing system 200 that furtherincludes an auto singulator device 268. Articles, such as medications,may be received in packaging that requires manipulation or separationprior to storing in the storage modules 202. For example, medicationsmay be received in a blister package format. When unit dose medicationsare packaged into a blister, they are typically packaged with severalmedication unit doses per blister card, such that there are acorresponding number of equally-spaced vinyl formed cavities per blistercard. These cavities are typically separated by a perforation. Asingulated blister is one that has been separated from a blister card,typically along its perforation. FIG. 25 illustrates a diagram of ablister card 270 according to an example embodiment. As shown, theblister card 270 may include a plurality of unit dose blisters 275separated by perforations 280. The auto singulator 268 of exampleembodiments described herein may be configured to separate the unit doseblisters 275, generally along their perforations, to be in single unitdose form for storage within the storage module.

In practice, one or more blister cards 270 may be received at the autosingulator 268 of the automated dispensing system 200 of an exampleembodiment. The blister card 270 may be received directly from anoperator or technician, or alternatively the blister card may bereceived via a restocking cart 220 at the cart station 218, whereuponthe blister card 270 may be transported, via robot 204, to the autosingulator 268. Upon receipt at the singulator 268, the singulator mayseparate the blister card 270 into individual unit dose blisters 275.The unit dose blisters, may each have thereon a medicationidentification, otherwise the unit dose blisters may be repackaged intoan overpack, or receive thereon a label identifying the medication ofthe unit dose blister. The identifiable unit dose blisters may then beretrieved by the robot 204, such as by the end-of-arm-tool 208, andmoved to storage locations within the trays 212 as determined by astorage optimization tool at the controller.

The modular nature of the automated dispensing system 200 of exampleembodiments enables the expansion of the system to include various othermodules that may facilitate dispensing. Beyond those modules describedabove, another such module is an automated bagger or automated packager269 as illustrated in FIG. 26. The automated packager may receivearticles that are retrieved for dispensing from the end-of-arm tool 208of the robot 204 and package them into an overpack appropriate for thedestination and contents of the package. For example, if a patient in ahealthcare facility is to receive one or more unit doses of medicationsthat are packaged in blister packs, the automated dispensing system 200may retrieve those medication blister packages, and advance them to theauto packager 269. The medication blister packs may be received within abag, or within a staging area of the auto packager from which they aredispensed into a bag. The bag may be printed with the patient's name, apatient location (e.g., room number), or other identifying information.The bag or other packaging may also be printed with a time at which themedications contained therein are to be dispensed to the patient.

The automated packaging module 269 may be equipped with a printerconfigured to print a label in response to the automated dispensingsystem dispensing articles of a particular order. The label may beprinted in response to the dispensing process starting, or upon receiptof the articles at the auto packaging station 269. The dispensingprocess may involve scanning (e.g., scanning a barcode or RFID tag) orotherwise identifying the retrieved articles and correlating them withan order for those retrieved articles. The identification may beperformed by a scanner attached to the end-of-arm tool 208, the vialroller described above, or an identification station to which anarticles is moved by the robot 204 and end-of-arm tool 208 foridentification. In this manner, the articles may be positivelyidentified at one or more stages throughout the dispensing process inorder to ensure the appropriate articles are dispensed for each orderreceived. Orders may be filled individually in sequence, orsimultaneously. The controller, as described above, may optimize thedispensing process, such as filling multiple orders for the same articleconcurrently. Regardless, the systematic identification of articlesthroughout the process may be used to ensure the appropriate articlesare dispensed to the appropriate packaging at the auto packaging station269 with one or more verification steps along the way to ensureaccuracy.

Once the auto packaging module 269 has packaged or bagged the dispensedarticles, the articles may be ready for distribution. The packagedarticles may be retrieved directly from the auto packaging station 269,for example, by an operator. Or the automated packaging station 269 maybe configured to package the articles such that the package may beretrieved by the robot 204 using the end-of-arm-tool 208, and moved tothe cart module in preparation for the cart to be retrieved by anoperator with a plurality of filled orders.

While example embodiments above are directed to dispensing ofmedications according to orders received in the system in a systematicand generally first-in-first-out order/retrieval sequence, certainmedication orders may require special attention which may includeexpediting a medication order. For example, first doses of medication ordoses of medication which are new to a patient may require specialattention. Unique carriers or carrier holders may be designated forreceiving first doses in order to alert the operator that the medicationon the unique carrier or carrier holder is a first dose, and should betreated accordingly with the appropriate care and consideration of thepharmacists, nurses, and doctors involved. The unique carriers orcarrier holders could be identified by color coding or some other meansthat would alert the operator that the medication contained on theseunique carriers or carrier holders are first doses. If a first dose of amedication was encountered in a medication order during the filloperation for a patient, the robot may complete the medication orderwithout the first dose, and subsequently retrieve one of the uniquecarrier holders on which to place the first dose for that patient.Optionally, the automated dispensing system may include flags that maybe placed on a carrier adjacent to a medication on the carrier toindicate that it is a first dose. For example, during the medicationorder fill, if a medication was determined to be a first dose, afterloading the medication on the carrier the robot may load a first doseflag onto the carrier indicating to the operator that the dose behindthat flag is a first dose and should be handled accordingly.

End-of-Arm-Tool

As described above, the automated dispensing system 200 of exampleembodiments may include a robot 204. The robot may be a multi-axis armwith a wide range of motion and several degrees of freedom. The robot204 may be equipped with an end-of-arm tool 208, such as the exampleembodiment illustrated in FIG. 27. The illustrated embodiment includesan end-of-arm tool body 400 from which vacuum cups 405, 410, and 415extend on extending members 407, 412, and 417, respectively. Theend-of-arm tool body 400 may be supplied with a vacuum source viaconduit 420. The vacuum may be generated by a pump, which may becollocated with the robot 204 and travel with the robot along the tracksystem 206. Optionally, the pump may be located remotely from the robotand track system, and may include a vacuum hose that is included withthe cables of the umbilical cable used to power and control the robot204 by the controller.

While example embodiments described herein include an end-of-arm tool208 configured to pick objects using vacuum, the end-of-arm tool mayoptionally be configured with a gripper, such as the gripper shown inFIG. 29. The gripper may be in addition to the end-of-arm tool 208 ofFIGS. 27 and 28 to increase the functionality of the robot 204 ofsystems described herein.

The controller, which may be the controller used to control the robot204 and other components of the dispensing system illustrated in FIG.12, or may be a separate controller used exclusively to control theend-of-arm tool 208, which may be directed or instructed by thecontroller of the automated dispensing system. The end-of-arm tool 208may include within or attached to the body 400 a manifold to which thevacuum source 420 is attached. This manifold 422 may be in communicationwith a vacuum channel 424, 426, for each vacuum cup 405. A valve 428,430 may control the vacuum flow from the manifold 422 to each vacuum cup405, 410, and 415. In this manner, the controller may independentlycontrol the valves 428, 430 in order to apply a vacuum to a vacuum cupor to preclude a vacuum from being applied to a vacuum cup. Thecontroller may select one or more of the plurality of vacuum cups tosupply a vacuum to, and close the valves associated with each of theother vacuum cups. Optionally, the valves 428, 430, may not be binaryon/off valves and may allow partial opening/closing to reduce the vacuumflow through a particular vacuum cup, as needed.

The vacuum cups 405, 410, 415, of example embodiments may be a flexiblerubber or plastic to enable the vacuum cups to engage a product and tocreate a seal against the product. The vacuum cups may be of differentsizes to accommodate engaging different surfaces. For example, acylindrical vial that is engaged along its curved length may not becompatible with a large vacuum cup as the large vacuum cup may beincapable of creating a sufficient seal on a vial of a relatively smalldiameter. Conversely, a relatively smaller vacuum cup may be able toestablish a seal with the vial sufficient to allow the end-of-arm tool208 to pick up and move the vial.

Each of the vacuum cups 405, 410, and 415, may be attached to extendingmembers 407, 412, and 417, respectively. These extending members mayextend from the end-of-arm tool body 400. A solenoid (not shown) may beattached to each extending member within the end-of-arm tool body 400 tomove the extending members to move each extending member between anextended position (illustrated by extending members 407 and 412) or aretracted position (illustrated by extending member 417), independently.The retraction/extension of extending members may optionally becontrolled by a pneumatic solenoid, where in response to the vacuumbeing shut off from a vacuum cup of a particular extending member, thevacuum is instead diverted to the pneumatic solenoid to raise theextending member to the retracted position.

FIG. 28 illustrates an example embodiment of an end-of-arm tool 208 of arobot 204 (not shown) as engaged with an article 440. According to theillustrated embodiment, extending member 407 and associated vacuum cup405 is in the retracted state, as is an extending member and vacuum cupdisposed behind it. Four extending members including 417 are disposed inthe extended position with vacuum cups (including 410, 417) engaging thearticle 440. As the article is not of sufficient size to require orengage vacuum cup 405, vacuum cup 405 is determined to not be requiredfor engaging the article, and it is moved to the retracted position. Thedetermination of which vacuum cups to use and which extension members toretract may be performed by the controller. The controller maydetermine, based on the identification of an article to be retrieved andan associated packaging size, which may be stored, for example in memory232, which vacuum cups are required to engage the article. For example,an article for retrieval may be requested, and the controller mayreference a database of stored article configurations in the memory 232using processor 230. The controller may determine the appropriate vacuumcups to use based on the stored configuration, and retract those thatwill be unused.

According to another example embodiment provided herein, the end-of-armtool may be equipped with a scanner or reader, such as a barcode scanneror RFID reader, as illustrated as 445 of FIG. 28. The end-of-arm toolmay determine the identification of the article to be retrieved based ona scan, and based on a known identification and configuration (e.g.,stored in memory 232), the appropriate vacuum cups may be establishedand appropriate configuration of extending members may also beestablished.

While the varying sizes of articles can be accommodated throughextension and retraction of the extending members, and the use of someor all of the vacuum cups, heavier objects may require greater vacuum tomaintain engagement between the object and the end-of-arm tool. Theweight of an object may be stored in the memory along with a packagingconfiguration or form factor such that a configuration of extensionmembers and vacuum cups, along with their relative vacuum pressure maybe established. Optionally, the memory may store a configuration ofextension members, vacuum cups, and vacuum pressure for one or morearticles. The vacuum level may be controlled by the valves of theend-of-arm tool (such as valves 428, 430), controlled by a pressureregulator governed by the controller, or optionally, controlled by thevacuum source (e.g., the pump).

The end-of-arm tool of example embodiments may be equipped to performmachine learning operations in cooperation with the controller. Forexample, when retrieving an object, a height of the object from asurface may not be known to the end-of-arm tool, such that the tool mustadvance toward the object and determine when contact is made. The heightat which this contact is made may be recorded and stored for theparticular article and package configuration such that subsequentretrievals of the article may use the stored height of the object toestimate the height of engagement of the end-of-arm tool with theobject.

Some example embodiments provided herein may include articles withunknown packaging configurations, or the packaging configurations maynot be consistent between similar articles. For example, when articlesare in overpacks, two articles of the same identification may havedifferent form factors. As such, an example embodiment provided hereinmay include an end-of-arm tool having a vision system configured todetermine the form factor shape and size. The vision system may beincluded in 445 such that the shape and size of an article may bedetermined as the end-of-arm tool encounters the article. Based on thevision system scanning the article, the appropriate number andconfiguration of vacuum cups and extending members may be established,while the remaining vacuum cups (if any) may be retracted with theirrespective extending members.

Vision systems of example embodiments may be used to find a center pointor centroid of an article to be retrieved. This may enable an end-of-armtool to better establish where to locate retrieving features, such assuction cups, to avoid article imbalance or to mitigate potential drops.Vision systems described herein may further be configured to identifydrawer locations, identify pockets within drawers, identify specificpockets using identifiers proximate those pockets, or the like. This mayfacilitate picking of articles from a pocket and stocking articles to apocket.

According to one example embodiment, a vision system may use algorithmsto detect articles and to estimate the orientation of those articles.Some products may be difficult to identify and locate, such as vials ofclear liquid. A vision system may identify a cap to a vial, identify theplane of the cap then use any portion of the label to identify the axisalong which the vial extends. The vision systems of example embodimentsmay be configured for machine learning to adapt to identifying products,particularly those products that are difficult to detect reliably, suchas vials of clear liquid. The machine learning technique may optionallyinclude user teaching whereby known articles are introduced to thesystem and identifications of those articles known to the system suchthat the vision system may view the article and establish the uniquecharacteristics of each product, and potentially each brand of eachproduct.

One or more of the vacuum cups and vacuum lines extending from therespective vacuum cups may include a vacuum gauge. Optionally, onevacuum gauge may be used for all of the vacuum cups of the end-of-armtool. The vacuum gauge may be in communication with the controller as afeedback of the vacuum level at the end-of-arm tool and at one or morevacuum cups, depending upon the configuration. The vacuum gauge may beused to determine when an article is engaged by the vacuum cups. Forexample, a vacuum cup that is being used to engage an article may have asteady-state vacuum of a first level when not engaged with the article.Upon engaging and attaching to the article, the vacuum may increase to asecond level, indicating that there is a sufficient seal of the vacuumcup on the article to draw vacuum. The controller may monitor the vacuumlevel of the one or more vacuum cups in order to determine if asufficient vacuum is pulled across all of the vacuum cups attached to anarticle to pick up and move the article. If the vacuum level is too low,it may be an indication that one or more of the vacuum cups is notproperly engaged with the article, and the end-of-arm tool may attemptto re-position on the article to align the vacuum cups with a surface towhich they can engage.

The vacuum gauge may optionally be configured to identify a dropcondition or an impending drop condition. After an article has beenpicked up by the end-of-arm tool, while the vacuum levels of the activevacuum cups are at a sufficient vacuum to indicate engagement, inresponse to the vacuum levels of one or more vacuum cups decreasing, animminent drop condition may be established and the robot 204 may movethe end-of-arm tool 208 to a location where the article may bere-engaged. In response to each of the vacuum level of each of thevacuum cups decreasing at substantially the same time, a drop conditionmay be detected and an alert may be generated at the user module toindicate to a user that an article has been dropped. If the article isdropped proximate a destination or a location of a tray (e.g.,immediately above the destination or location), the article may beretrieved by the end-of-arm tool without necessarily alerting anoperator.

The configuration of various articles may optionally be learned by acontroller of an automated dispensing system of example embodiments. Forexample, if an article is identified and a vision system is used todetermine the appropriate vacuum cup and extension member configuration,the reliability with which the article is moved (e.g., no droppedarticles and no or few impending drop conditions), that configurationmay be learned by the controller and stored to memory for use whenretrieving an article of the same identification in the future. Adaptivelearning in this manner may use a vision system as described above,while also building a database of known articles and known appropriateconfigurations. The machine learning aspects of the dispensing systemsdescribed herein may associate certain article identifiers with packagetypes, package configurations, package sizes, and package weights. Thismay be retained in a table stored within the controller that isreferenced when an object it to be retrieved. When retrieving an object,the table may be referenced to establish the anticipated details of thepackage. While this information may be beneficial to the system and theend-of-arm tool 208, the previously learned package information is notstrictly relied upon as packaging types may change periodically.However, the learned package information may generally be accurate orprovide sufficient guidance to the system and the robot 204 that theefficiency of article retrieval is substantially improved with learnedpackaging configurations.

As noted above, certain medication orders or exceptions require uniquetreatment. Medication orders that are first-dose orders or a quick-pick(or on-demand, STAT, etc.) may be handled differently than aconventional medication pick and dispensing operation. For suchcircumstances, the robot 204 and system 200 of example embodiments mayinclude features to facilitate such first-dose or quick-pick orders.FIG. 29 illustrates an example embodiment of robot 204 that includes theend-of-arm tool 208. The robot 204 further includes work surface 510 andcontainer 512 disposed on the work surface. The system 200 of exampleembodiments may include a first-dose/quick-pick retrieval area, which inthe illustrated embodiment is a cabinet 502. The cabinet 502 may beincluded with any of the modules identified above in system 200, such asin user module 216. The cabinet 502 of FIG. 29 includes six storagelockers 504, each one having a handle 508 and an indicator 506. Inpractice, when an order is received for a first-dose or a quick-pickorder that needs to be readied as soon as possible, the robot 204 maycease the operation it was previously performing to retrieve thenecessary medication(s) for the first-dose or quick-pick. The robot 204may retrieve the necessary medication(s), and for a single first-doseorder or quick-pick order, may place the medications in container 512 onwork surface 510. The robot 204 may then proceed to cabinet 502 andplace the container 512 into one of the lockers. The lockers may beaccessible to the robot 204 from within the modular system 200, butlocked to prevent unauthorized access from outside of the system 200.

Upon placing the container 512 having the medication of the first-doseor quick-pick order into the cabinet, the order may be ready forretrieval. In some circumstances, an alert may be provided by the systemthat the order is ready to be retrieved. A user may access themedication order by entering their identification into the userinterface of the system 200 and specifying the order they wish toretrieve. As noted above, the cabinet may have an indicator 506 for eachdoor 504, and the indicator associated with the medication to beretrieved may be illuminated, alerting the user of the locker in whichtheir order is located. The door 504 may be unlocked to allow access tothe medication order by the authorized user. Optionally, the doors 504may be numbered or otherwise identified and the user interface of thesystem 200 may direct the user to the appropriate door to retrieve theirmedication without requiring an indicator 206.

According to some embodiments, upon entry of the user identification andidentification of the order that they are retrieving, a label for thatorder may be printed at the user module 216. Regardless of the number oforders that a user may be retrieving, only a label or labels for theorder to be retrieved is printed, and the system 200 may await retrievalof the associated first-dose or quick-pick medication from the cabinet502. The retrieval process including the unlocking of the respectivedoor 504 may await a scan of the printed label to confirm that the userhas retrieved the label and needs only the associated medication inorder to marry the label to the correct medication. Once the medicationis retrieved and the respective door 504 closed, the user may enteranother order that they are to retrieve, and a label for that order maybe printed. This order of operations ensures that multiple labels andmultiple orders are not printed and retrieved simultaneously, increasingthe chances of a mislabeled medication.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart of a method and program product according to anexample embodiment of the present invention. It will be understood thateach block of the flowchart and combinations of blocks in the flowchartmay be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware,processor, circuitry, and/or other devices associated with execution ofsoftware including one or more computer program instructions. Thesecomputer program instructions may also be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory that may direct a computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that theinstructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an articleof manufacture which implements the functions specified in the flowchartblocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer or other programmable apparatus to cause a series of operationsto be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus toproduce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions whichexecute on the computer or other programmable apparatus implement thefunctions specified in the flowchart block(s).

Accordingly, blocks of the flowchart support combinations of means forperforming the specified functions and combinations of operations forperforming the specified functions. It will also be understood that oneor more blocks of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computersystems which perform the specified functions, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

In this regard, a method according to one embodiment of the invention,as shown in FIG. 30, may include providing for storage of a plurality oftrays in a vertical stack in a storage module as shown at 510. A requestfor a first article may be received at 520, such as via the controller.The request may be generated by a system such as a healthcare facilitypatient management system and communicated to the controller over acommunication network. At 530, a tray including a unique storagelocation having therein the first article may be caused to move from thestorage position to the retrieval position. This movement may beeffected by a solenoid or drive motor within the storage module, oralternatively the robot may move the tray. At 540, the robot may becaused to retrieve the article from the unique storage location, and todispense the article to a dispensing location as shown at 550.

In some embodiments, certain ones of the operations may be modified orfurther amplified as described below. Moreover, in some embodimentsadditional operations may also be included. It should be appreciatedthat each of the modifications, optional additions, or amplificationsbelow may be included with the operations above either alone or incombination with any others among the features described herein.

In an example embodiment, an apparatus for performing the method of FIG.28 may include a processor configured to perform some or all of theoperations (510-550) described above. The processor may, for example, beconfigured to perform the operations (510-550) by performing hardwareimplemented logical functions executing stored instructions, orexecuting algorithms for performing each of the operations.Alternatively, the apparatus may include means for performing each ofthe operations described above.

An example of an apparatus according to an example embodiment mayinclude at least one processor and at least one memory includingcomputer program code. The at least one memory and the computer programcode may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause theapparatus to perform the operations 510-550.

An example of a computer program product according to an exampleembodiment may include at least one computer-readable storage mediumhaving computer-executable program code portions stored therein. Thecomputer-executable program code portions may include program codeinstructions for performing operations 510-550.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseinventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Moreover, although the foregoing descriptions and the associateddrawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain examplecombinations of elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated thatdifferent combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided byalternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appendedclaims. In this regard, for example, different combinations of elementsand/or functions than those explicitly described above are alsocontemplated as may be set forth in some of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. An automated dispensing system comprising: acontroller configured to process a request for one or more articles tobe dispensed; one or more storage modules comprising a plurality ofmoveable trays stacked vertically, each of the moveable trays comprisingone or more storage locations to hold the one or more articles; and arobot configured to access the one or more storage locations within theone or more moveable trays within the one or more storage modules andtransfer the requested one or more articles to a storage location priorto dispensing the requested one or more articles, wherein each of theone or more moveable trays is moved from a storage position to aretrieval position prior to the access by the robot to the one or morestorage locations to retrieve the one or more articles.
 2. The automateddispensing system of claim 1, wherein one of the one or more storagemodules includes an upper closure door and a lower closure door adaptedto enable the robot to access the one or more trays between the upperclosure door and the lower closure door.
 3. The automated dispensingsystem of claim 2, wherein an adjustable opening is defined between theupper closure door and the lower closure door and sized to permitmovement of the one or more trays through the opening.
 4. The automateddispensing system of claim 3, wherein the adjustable opening is movablebetween a bottom most tray on a particular storage module and anuppermost tray on the particular storage module.
 5. The automateddispensing system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or morestorage modules is insulated and adapted to allow control of temperaturewithin the storage module.
 6. The automated dispensing system of claim1, wherein at least one of the one or more storage modules is a securestorage module that controls access to the contents of the securestorage module for a user.
 7. The automated dispensing system of claim6, wherein the automated dispensing system is configured to enable useraccess within the automated dispensing system, and wherein the securestorage module restricts access to the contents of the secure storagemodule in response to a user entering the automated dispensing system.8. The automated dispensing system of claim 7, wherein access to thesecure storage module is controlled by the controller.
 9. The automateddispensing system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or morestorage modules comprises a tray elevator configured to move any of theone or more trays within the at least one storage module from aretrieval position to an access position, wherein the access position ofthe tray is closer to the robot than the retrieval position of the tray.10. The automated dispensing system of claim 1, wherein the robot is afirst robot, the system further comprising a second robot, wherein thefirst robot and the second robot both traverse a single track.
 11. Theautomated dispensing system of claim 10, wherein the first robot and thesecond robot are controlled by the controller to cooperate and increasethroughput of the automated dispensing system.
 12. The automateddispensing system of claim 1, further comprising a non-transitorymemory, wherein the memory is configured to store a uniqueidentification for each of the plurality of storage locations for eachof the plurality of trays, and an identification of an article stored ineach of the plurality of storage locations.
 13. The automated dispensingsystem of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more trayscomprises one or more tray inserts, each of the one or more tray insertscomprising at least a portion of the plurality of storage locations forthe respective tray, wherein the system further comprises a cart module,wherein the cart module is configured to receive therein a cart holdinga plurality of tray inserts, wherein tray inserts from the cart areexchanged by the system for tray inserts from a tray to replenish theautomated dispensing system.
 14. A method of operating an automateddispensing system, the method comprising: receiving a request for adispensing one or more articles; identifying unique storage locationsfor the one or more articles; determining a selection sequence to enablethe retrieval of the one or more articles; moving one or more traysholding the one or more articles, to allow retrieval of the one or morearticles, based on the selection sequence; retrieving the one or morearticles from their unique storage locations in the one or more trays;temporarily storing the one or more articles in a unique storagelocation associated with the request until all of the one or morearticles in the request are retrieved; and transferring the one or morearticles to a dispensing location.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising scanning each of the one or more articles prior to storingeach of their one or more articles in their unique storage location andassociating the one or more articles to their respective unique storagelocation.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein retrieving the one or morearticles from their unique storage locations further comprising: readingan identification of the unique storage location prior to retrievingeach of the one or more articles.
 17. An apparatus comprising at leastone processor and at least one non-transitory computer readable storagemedium comprising program code instructions stored thereon, the at leastone processor configured to, upon execution of the program codeinstructions, cause the apparatus to at least: receive a request todispense one or more articles; identify a unique storage location forthe one or more articles; determine a selection sequence to enable theretrieval of the one or more articles; move one or more trays holdingthe one or more articles to a retrieval position based on the selectionsequence; retrieve the one or more articles from their unique storagelocations in the one or more trays; and temporarily store the one ormore articles in a unique storage location associated with the requestuntil each of the one or more articles in the request is retrieved. 18.The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising program code instructionsto cause the apparatus to provide an indication upon completion of therequest to dispense.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprisingcode instructions to cause the apparatus to transfer the one or morearticles to a dispensing location.
 20. The apparatus of claim 17,further comprising program code instructions to cause the apparatus totransfer the one or more articles to a bagging device to collectivelyhouse the one or more articles in a storage container.
 21. The apparatusof claim 20, further comprising program code instructions to printinformation pertaining to the one or more articles of the request. 22.The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising program code instructionsto cause the tray including the unique storage location to be moved fromthe retrieval position to an access position by a tray elevator, whereinmovement from the storage position to the retrieval position is along afirst axis, and wherein movement from the retrieval position to anaccess position is along a second axis, perpendicular to the first axis.